1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to identification of vehicles, and more particularly, to a system and method for classifying vehicles using inductive loops.
2. Background of the Invention
A standard automatic toll collection system for a highway involves the use of a toll collection station or toll booth positioned between each lane of traffic. Vehicles driving on the highway must pass through a toll lane alongside the toll collection station.
The passage of vehicles by the toll collection stations is monitored with a combination of loop detectors, treadles, or other such devices capable of detecting passing vehicles. These devices provide vehicle classification information after the vehicle has passed a payment point. Although these devices can be used for audit purposes, they do not address the potential for error when an attendant makes a mistake, nor do they address the ability to properly classify all transactions.
In early toll collection systems, attendants were employed to manually collect fares from the operators of vehicles and to regulate the amount of tolls. Utilizing attendants to collect fares involves numerous problems including, but not limited to, the elements of human error, inefficiencies, traffic delays resulting from manually collected tolls, employment costs of toll attendants, and embezzlement or theft of collected toll revenues. As a result, devices have been developed to automatically operate toll collection systems without the need for toll attendants. In these systems, the toll fees paid are a fixed price and are not based upon the number of axles or vehicle type. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method that can allow collection of different toll rates from different classes or categories of vehicles without user intervention. In other words, there is a need for a toll collection system in which a toll booth attendant need not be present to classify vehicles to apply different amounts of toll charges.